


The Death Mark

by orphan_account



Series: The Dark Brotherhood Of Nine [2]
Category: Naruto, Overwatch (Video Game), Paladins: Champions Of The Realm (Video Game), Star Wars - All Media Types, Team Fortress 2
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-07-16
Updated: 2017-07-28
Packaged: 2018-12-02 18:15:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 6,523
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11514789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Sniper has to leave the group to pay off some old debts, but encounters with bounty hunters leave Amelie fearful for his safety and is followed by some friends to Corusant to ensure his safety.





	1. Chapter 1

_"General, can I have a moment?" Sniper asked._

_Zelda agreed and told him to follow her. Before he did, he look at Amelie. The two started at each other for a moment before Sniper went into the hallway with Zelda. Amelie sat for a moment before removing herself from the monitor. The door was still open so she stood on the side and listened in on their conversation._

__

_"Are you sure about this, Mundy?" she heard Zelda ask._

_"I'm afraid so. I can't stay."_

* * *

 

Zelda was astounded by what Sniper just told her. She said to him, "You promised that you would stay on until this was finished."

"Well, we had some encounters with bounty hunters on my last mission." Sniper told her. "I nearly got Tracer and Medic killed. Until I get my debts cleared, I've got a target on my back and I won't let anyone else get caught in the crossfire."

Zelda heard about the reports from Gull. Sniper, Medic, Tracer and some of the Jedi were sent there to stop an Imperial takeover. She was also informed that a sniper tried to take out Tracer and Medic, nearly killing them. She wasn't informed that it was the result of a bounty on Sniper. She knew he meant well, even after learning about his checkered past as a reckless gun for hire and an avid gambler. Who knows who he upset in the past. All this had Zelda nodding her head in agreement and told him, "Make sure this is settled. We need you, Mundy."

"Thank you, General." Sniper gave her a salute and departed.

He was half way to the hanger, his helmet in hand and his rifle lugged over his shoulder. He looked about him, looking at all the faces he had served with these past few months. He had to leave to ensure their safety, hoping he'll be back to fight along side them again.

"You're going alone?" he heard her ask from a control room. He stopped in his tracks and waited for her to appear out of the room.

Amelie walked out of the room, dawned from neck to toe in her crimson armor and her black suit. The suit sat snug on her body, almost outlining her figure. She wasn't like most Mandalorians in that she wore armored stiletto boots, just like _her_.

"What if you don't come back?" she asked him. "You promised that you would stay on and help me find her."

"I'm sorry, Huntress." Sniper told her before continuing to walk on.

"Gerard was your friend." she called out to him, causing him to pause once again. "He died thinking it was me that killed him. You told me that you would help me find her and kill her for what she had done."

Sniper said nothing as the two stood in the corridor. She was right though, he did promise that he would help Amelie kill Widowmaker, her evil and twisted clone. Talon took Amelie from her home and cloned her. The Dark Brotherhood of Nine were presented with the clone, fully grown thanks to the modifications of cloning, and created a new mind for her, turning her into an evil and far more skilled version of Amelie. The clone was sent back in the rescue mission by the Mandalorian Overwatch Corp, and this lead to the death of Gerard. Upon hearing that her husband was dead, Amelie was fueled by her rage to escape Korriban. She only made it a few parsects when her fighter was blasted and crashed into an isolated moon, where the Imperial troops surrounded her and were ready to execute her.

That was when he arrived. Sniper fought off the troops with his team and drove them off, him leaving the battlefield with her in his arms. After she was patched up, Sniper told her that he would kill Widowmaker for both her and Gerard. That was when she asked for his training, to which he reluctantly agreed. He taught her how to improved her sniping skills and even taught her hand to hand combat. The two went on several missions together and she impressed him. After war broke out on Mandalore, the two went into hiding until Team Fortress found them. Shortly afterwards, Overwatch set a recall, attracting Team Fortress and Amelie. The two Mandalorian splinter cells joined up with the rebellion, and Amelie and Sniper were always at each other's side.

Until now.

Sniper couldn't say anything to her, not wanting to leave her with any snide remarks that he was prone to. He had far too much respect for her to do that to her. He only walked on into the courtyard and made his way to his fighter on the landing pad. Amelie, however, wasn't going to give up.

* * *

 

Sakura threw Naruto down on the ground and pinned him. The two panted hard for they had been sparing for a while now. Sakura smirked at her blonde boyfriend as he laid beneath her, her forearm pressed against his chest. Naruto smiled as he panted to her, "Well, looks like you win."

"Again." Sakura said as she sat up.

"It's a good thing this training ground is outside." the heard Sasuke's voice entered the training ground as he walked with Hinata. "With as much as the dead last wastes his time in here, it would smell worst than bantha fodder."

"Ah go to hell, idiot!" Naruto shouted, stumbling up on his knees. "Give me a few minutes alone with you! I'll beat you so hard, Darth Tirashias will feel it! Believe it!"

Sasuke was about to pull his robe off when Hinata said, "O-Oh, hello Amelie!"

It was clearly Hinata's way of defusing the situation, but Sasuke knew that his spar with Naruto would have to wait. If Amelie was around and Sniper wasn't with her, it was business. He turned to see the Huntress standing before the group, her helmet still in hand.

"Have you heard?" she asked the group. Everyone just blankly looked at her. She said, "Mundy's gone. He's going to pay off some debts."

"So?" Naruto asked.

"So..." Amelie said. "He's going to pay off a gambling debt to Caldo, the Toydarian thug king of the Corusant underworld. Anyone who doesn't pay his debts never come out alive."

"Ohhhh...I don't get it." Naruto responded.

Sakura slapped him on the back of the head and shout, "It means Sniper's in danger, you idiot! If he's going alone, then he might not come back alive!"

"I-Is Caldo that bad?" Hinata asked.

"You remember that slaughtered village on Mustifar a few weeks ago?" Sasuke asked her. She nodded and he told her, "Well, Caldo made it look like pirates. He shows no mercy."

"And Sniper's going right into the pit." Sakura said.

Sasuke turned to Amelie and asked her, "What is it you need?"

"I need a small group to help me watch his back." Amelie said. "I just want to make sure he's okay."

"Well, we've got nothing to do, I suppose we could do it." Naruto volunteered.

"Thank you." Amelie smiled for a bit. He smile faded as she said, "But first, Naruto catch a shower."

* * *

 

Sniper's fighter came out of hyperspace over Corusant. He wore his helmet as he piloted his ship over the shield covering the planet. It was put in place after the war began to protect it from Imperial bombardment and could only breached via password. Thankfully he had a spy as an ally and his fighter was equipped with the password needed. Upon approaching the gate, he transmitted the password and the gate opened for him. He flew through and it slowly began to close.

Right behind him entering the shield, one of the rebellion's unmarked Lambda shuttles came out of hyperspace through the closing gate.

"Naruto, you moron!" Sakura shouted at him as he piloted the ship into the planet's atmosphere. "We're suppose to be discrete! You practically ran right up behind him!"

"I am being discrete!" he whined. "He doesn't know we're here!"

"Plus, you nearly clipped the wings." Amelie told Naruto, adding more to the frustration of the group. Naruto's entry nearly had the wings and the fin of the ship hit the gate.

"Look, it's okay!" Naruto whined again. "Sniper would have radioed in if he knew we were tailing him. And I timed it perfectly. I'm a great pilot."

"We should have gotten Oxton to pilot." Sasuke groaned as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Back in Sniper's fighter, he opened a communication channel and punched in co-ordnance for the lower level of the city. He spoke into the mic, "This Mundy, requesting a landing on platform -56."

"Mr. Mundy, you're expected." a voice told him over the communication. "We'll provide you the landing."

Sniper knew that there was no turning back. It was now or never.


	2. Chapter 2

The lower levels of Corusant were notorious for the wave of crime and villainy beyond the scope of imagination. Tattooine had it's own reputation for such an awful tradition, but it paled in comparison to Corusant's own underworld. Sniper had spent many a year in these hovels, looking for work and gambling his years away. This ultimately lead to the death mark he currently under. He had his debt to Caldo, a rough and bloodthirsty Toydarian known for killing anyone who so much as looked at him the wrong way, even children. Sniper never could stand the fowl smelling Toydarian, but he won some good money from his casino at one point, but that ignorance caused him to be twenty five thousand credits in debts. That was five years ago and now Sniper was next on Caldo's death list. It wouldn't have bothered Sniper since he disappeared before and could do it again.

This time though, he was part of a rebellion, a group of people who were here to help the galaxy. He trusted them, and that wasn't an easy feat for him. He could even say that he cared about them, even after years of saying that feeling were "for blokes who bludgeon their wives to death with a pod-racing trophy". But he cared more about Amelie. She was right in that Gerard was his friend. The two were scoundrels that loved to do assassination missions together. Gerard often spoke about his wife to Sniper and sniper would always comment, "You're a lucky man, Gerard. A woman like Amelie is what every man should have." After Gerard was murdered, he vowed to protect Amelie. The two spent much time together and grew closer, the closest relationship Sniper ever had.

Now, they were all in danger because of him. Sniper was on a mission on Gull with Tracer, Medic and a few others. The Sith Empire were going in and trying to commandeer the spaceports and they had to be stopped. It was a relatively simple mission, go in, fight the Empire and get out. However on their landing platform, Sniper happened to look up at the top of the desert plateau and see a shadow looking down at him. He couldn't make it out at first, but when the shot rang out, he knew what was going on. To his luck, the shot missed him. The shot missed him and hit Tracer instead. She was shot in the abdomen and when Medic went to heal her, he got shot in the shoulder. Thankfully for the both of them, Dr. Ziegler was there for them. Genji went after the assassin, but they got away. Sniper knew, he knew that he was the target. He looked down at Tracer as she was being healed. He felt the pit in the stomach grow. He looked at Medic as a friend, but Tracer was one of his favorites because she was so innocent and so cheerful. He let her get hurt. What if it was Amelie?

Those thoughts were processing through his head as he landed his fighter on the platform. The landing geared steamed and the cockpit hissed as he opened the panel before climbing out. He still wore his Mandalorian armor but removed his helmet as he walked up to the information booth.

Several levels above the landing platform, Naruto landed the Lambda on a more secure and safer platform. Amelie was at the command monitor, scanning for Sniper's fighter. She pinpointed the location and locked on.

"I'm going alone." Sasuke told the group.

"No, I'm here to make sure he's safe." Amelie told him. The others were also about to protest.

"Have any of you spent time in the lower levels of Corusant?" Sasuke asked as he looked around him. No one even hinted to the possibility. "I've spent some time here. I know my way around and I know the dangers. I'll go down, keep an eye on him and if anything happens, I'll cut down anyone who gets in my way."

No one said anything. Sasuke opened the ramp of the Lambda and was about to depart.

"Sasuke." Hinata called out to him. He turned to her as she walked up to him. She looked into his eyes before she kissed him. When the two parted, she said to him, "Be safe. May the Force be with you."

As Sasuke left, Naruto mumbled to himself, "I have a bad feeling about this."

Sasuke leaped off the platform and into the lower level. The entire area was dark and smelled of many different mixtures of fowl smells. It was down here that the sewage system ran, but years of lack of any kind of maintenance has caused leaks and blockages leading to ruptures. The garbage was also being gathered here as well. The trash compounds were littered with all forms of garbage that sprinkled off the conveyor belts to the incinerators with no one to clean them up. It also doesn't help that the entire area was overrun with thugs, criminals and all forms of scum and villainy. The apartments and housing were all occupied by street gangs and cartels all committing all acts of crime. Sasuke couldn't stay in one place for long. He found his way through the dark alleyways and found the landing platform that Sniper landed on. Sniper was still at the information booth. Sasuke ducked behind the corner to watch Sniper.

That was when he saw it. He saw someone climb up over the edge of the platform. They were dressed in all black and had their face covered in a matching wrapped hood. They rushed over to Sniper's fighter and Sasuke could tell they planted something on it. It was possibly a bomb. Just as quick at the person came, they leaped off the platform.

Sasuke looked over at Sniper, seeing him finish up his transaction with the information booth. He turned and began walking back to the fighter. Sasuke, acting on instinct, ran around the corner and threw his hand up, giving a push with the Force and throwing Sniper to the side. The bomb detonated and the fight exploded, causing Sasuke to be pushed back a bit from the blast. He covered himself as the debris flew everywhere. Sniper recovered from the blast and looked at the sight of the blast. He exhaled deeply as he climbed up. But, he knew what caused the gust that threw him back. He looked over to see Sasuke standing there, pulling his arm away from his face.

"I owe you gratitude, Uchiha." Sniper smirked as he shouted to Sasuke.

"Pay off this debt first." Sasuke responded as he walked over to Sniper. He then heard his comlink ring. He answered it and asked, "What now?"

"Uh Sasuke, we got a problem." Naruto said over the comlink. "We lost the ship."

"I know. Sniper's okay."

"Well good to know, but that wasn't what I was talking about."

"Naruto..."

"The ship was impounded."

"Naruto, you dolt! What happened?"

"Turns out the platform we landed on was reserved for a senator. We tried to stop them but it was no good."

Sasuke pressed the comlink against his forehead in frustration as Sniper groaned and rolled his eyes. Sasuke spoke back into the comlink, "Look, just wait for us. We'll find a place to lay low for a bit. We need to get the ship back before they get the number and trace it back to the moon. Naruto, you really screwed up."

With that, both Sasuke and Sniper stormed off.

* * *

 

It was night and in the upper city of the metropolitan planet, a figure was standing on the edge of a skyscraper. Next to him, a speeder landed on the edge and a woman armored in copper and silver with a black catsuit and a turquoise scarf with a helmet matching the armor with a bright blue V visor exited it. She pulled her helmet off as she approached the figure, revealing a young dark skinned woman with a brown bobcut. She walked up to the figure and said, "The bomb was planted, but he got away."

"We'll have to try something a little more subtle this time, Kinessa. Our client is getting impatient." the figure told her. He handed her a tube containing two wriggling kouhans and told her, "Take these. Be careful, they're very poisonous." As she walked off, the man told her, "And Kinessa, there can be no mistakes this time."


	3. Chapter 3

Sniper was not to fond of the entertainment district of Corusant. He only looked at it as a group of the spoiled rich of the galaxy to gather together to brag about their lavished lives. But since he and the others had to lay low and find a hotel to stay in, they had no choice. With Sasuke and Sakura off to get the ship out of the impound, Naruto, Sniper, Hinata and Amelie had to find a place close to the underground so they could meet up with Caldo in the morning and end this game. Naruto was quiet for the most part, since he was deeply embarrassed for letting the ship get impounded. So far, the only person who wasn't really upset with him, aside from Hinata because she never really got upset with anyone, was Sniper, since he had made mistakes like that in the past. Sniper thought that once they found a place, he would probably talk to Naruto. He liked the kid and thought that everyone was being hard on him. After all, they were all here to watch his back and it was important not to be on Naruto's for the mission to be successful.

"This place is as good as any I suppose." Amelie pointed to a hotel right off the street. It was actually quiet lavished for the area. It looked more like an upper city hotel, with it's eccentric decor and fancy tapestry. It looked expensive, but they were most bounty hunters. Money was far from a problem.

As they made their way inside, someone bumped into Hinata.

"Oh, I'm sorry." the young woman said to the former Jedi.

"Oh, it's no-" Hinata looked at the woman straight in the face. Hinata knew her.

"Ying?"

The woman had dark flowing hair with a small pony tail atop her head, which was encircled in a crown made of silver disks. Her attire was that of a dancer with green sashes and a matching thin transparent veil that stretched across her face, tucking behing her pointy ears. Hinata was about to confront her, but Ying was startled by Hinata and disappeared in a flash of light.

"Wait, Ying!" Hinata cried out, but she looked around only to find Ying gone.

"Hinata, are you alright?" Amelie came out of the hotel.

"There was...someone I-I knew from a long time ago." Hinata said as she continued to look around. "A Jedi."

Amelie looked around, but saw no one that even remotely resembled a Jedi.

"Hinata dear, are you sure?" Amelie asked. "I'm sure if she was a Jedi, we'd have the entire Order after us."

"That's the thing. A-Amelie, she's suppose to be dead."

Amelie said nothing, only pulled Hinata into the hotel.

It wasn't too long after they settled into the hotel room when Sakura and Sasuke found their way in. Sniper sent them the message telling them where they were.

"Alright, we got the ship." Sakura told everyone. "Tomorrow, we meet up with Caldo and get back to the Rishi Moon."

Naruto, slipping his helmet off, still had a look of disappointment. Sniper thought this was a good time to talk.

"Oi, can you talk, kid?" he asked Naruto, gripping his shoulder and pulling him into the bedroom. He took Naruto to the window and said to him, "Look kid, mistakes happen. There's no point in trying to work yourself up over this."

"But Sniper, I do this all the time." Naruto responded. "Mandalorians aren't suppose to make mistakes like that. I nearly jeopardized the entire rebellion."

"We're Mandalorians, but Mandalorians aren't perfect." Sniper told him. "Hell, I remember the first time I came here. I parked a ship on a exhaust vent. My team and I went out to collect a bounty and went back to find the ship burnt to a rusty crisp."

Naruto could help but chuckle at the story. It made him feel a little better. But still, Naruto had no one to blame but himself at this point. Ever since him and Sakura got together, he tried to better himself from his knucklehead antics and tried to become more serious, but it hasn't been easy. He embarrassed himself in front of her.

"Naruto?" Sakura's voice entered the room. It was as if thinking about her summoned her in. Sniper knew the two needed to be alone, so he pat Naruto on the back and left. Sakura came in and looked up at Naruto, her look of annoyance she had earlier now replaced with a look of concern. She asked him, "Are you okay?"

"What do you think?" he asked. "So much for trying to fix myself. I screwed up big time, didn't I?"

"Yeah, you did." Sakura told him. He looked away, but she cupped his face and pulled his face back to look at her. She said, "But, we fixed this. I heard what Sniper told you. It was a big mistake yes, but it happens."

"Sakura, this isn't helping."

"The point is I know you're trying to fix yourself for my sake, but you're only making things worst for yourself. Stop trying to impress me, you've already got me."

"But I want to prove that I'm not just some moron. I'm a Mandalorian, Sakura. We're warriors by blood, so it's time I start showing it."

"But you've proven yourself a Mandalorian many times over. Remember when we recruited the Eds? You got those three terrorists that they knew, Rolf, Kevin and Nazz, to flee. When they came back, you took them on by yourself. Rolf was a brute but you still beat him with your bare hands. Even after that, suffering a bloody beating, you still stood strong against Kevin and Nazz. You forced them off Mandalore and sent them screaming into space in that escape pod. Plus..."

Sakura wrapped her arms around his shoulders as she stood on her toes.

"It was the moron I fell head over heels for."

She then planted a kiss on his lips.

Kinessa was still on the ledge her and her boss met at. She had a probe droid at the ready, placing the canister containing the kouhans into the input slot. The droid turned and flew into the night and over the city lights.

Back at the hotel room, Sniper, Naruto and Sasuke were sitting at the table playing a game of Sabacc. Naruto dropped the cards and showed the winning hand, earning Sasuke tossing his cards in the air and Sniper throwing his hands in the air in groaning defeat. Naruto slid the pile of credits to his side of his table, grinning wildly. The ladies were all in the sitting room, just talking about the men in the room.

Outside the window, now covered by blinds, the droid pressed itself against the glass and cut a hole. The canister opened at the two insects slithered out. They both fell on the floor and began to crawl behind the furniture. One crawled towards the sitting room and one slithered in the dark towards the table where the boys were playing their game.

As Hinata took a sip of her tea, she felt a threatening aura enter the room. She swallowed her tea and placed her cup on the small coffee table. Without Sakura and Amelie not even noticing, she slowly reached for her lightsaber. Back with the boys, Naruto was chuckling about his new victory when he saw something in the reflection of Sniper's visor on his helmet that was placed on the table. He saw something moving on the ground towards him. He knew Sasuke would have sensed it if it was dangerous and glanced over to his Sith comrade. Sasuke was already looking at him. When they locked eyes, Sasuke gave Naruto a nod. Not even hesitating, Naruto drew one of his black Westar-34 pistols and blasted the insect. Back in the sitting room, Hinata leaped to her feet and activated her lightsaber and slashed the slithering insect crawling up to her feet.

With Hinata activating her lightsaber and Naruto firing his blaster, everyone jolted to their feet. Though Sasuke didn't draw his lightsaber, he knew there was a threat near, but where? He looked to the window and jolted in a sprint. He leaped through the glass and gripped onto the droid as it turned to escape. Everyone was in awe as they watched Sasuke fly off with the droid into the city. Naruto told everyone to stay put as he ran down stairs and into the parking garage where everyone parked their speeders. Naruto was notorious for grand theft auto so it didn't bother him in the least to steal someone's speeder. He found one that he knew would work out and took the controls before flying off.

The droid carried Sasuke through the open traffic of the city airways. Speeders flew past him, trying their best not to hit him. Despite it trying to drop him, he didn't let go. It veered out of traffic and into the metropolitan center. That was where Sasuke saw her. He saw Kinessa on the building ledge. He couldn't make out the rifle in her hands until it fired and blasted the probe droid, causing him to plummet into the city depths.

As he fell, Sasuke could sense Naruto approaching in the speeder. Naruto drove it under him and had it descend with Sasuke. Sasuke softly landed on the hull, climbed into the passanger seat and asked, "What kept you?"

"Oh you know me, idiot." Naruto smirked. "I couldn't find a speeder I really liked."

"Just shut up and fly up to that ledge." Sasuke pointed up at the ledge he saw Kinessa on. Naruto flew the speeder up and when the two got there, she was gone. Naruto parked the speeder on the ledge and the two climbed out onto the ledge. Sasuke said, "There was someone here. I'm sure the droid was coming to this spot."

"Well whoever they were, they're gone now." Naruto said as he looked about for any clues. "Did you see what they looked like?"

"Yeah, as a matter of fact." Sasuke said, recalling what he could make out of Kinessa. "They were Mandalorian."

"Oh, that's a classic. Blame it on the Mandalorians." Naruto sarcastically remarked.

"You wouldn't have liked them. They had that new armor that you hate so much."

With that, Naruto tensed up. He really hated the new Mandalorian armor, thinking that it was an insult to their ancestors and were of poorer quality. Plus, Mandalorians were know for the T visor and the V visor that the new helmets had were an insult. He looked over to Sasuke and said, "Let's find and kill the bastard!"

After Naruto and Sasuke returned to the hotel, Sniper came storming out.

"Uchiha, let's go!" he demanded. He went over and began to pull a whining Naruto out of the driver seat.

"Where are you going?" Sakura demanded.

"I'm gonna end this once and for all!" Sniper growled as he slipped his helmet on.

"I thought we were going to wait until morning." Hinata said.

"We might be dead by then!" Sniper said getting into the driver seat. "Caldo won't stop until he's paid or I'm dead! I'm finishing this now!"

With that, he piloted the speeder into the city and made his way to the exit into the underground.

"You know what to do, Uchiha?"

"Yeah."


	4. Chapter 4

Thankful for Sniper and Sasuke, all of Caldo's minions are morons. All it took was one wave of Sasuke's hand to draw them off. He didn't use any manipulation, they only saw his hand wave and they just walked off knowing he was a Force user. For being one of the most feared criminals on Corusant, Caldo wasn't keen on hiring the bravest or smartest of henchmen. They could lay waste to villages but they cower down to anyone using the Force. The two rebels looked at each other, Sniper smuggly smirked at Sasuke. With obstacles out of the way, they made their way to Caldo's office. He had a small base of operation so his office wasn't far. They entered his office, the smell of death sticks filling the air.

"I've been waiting for you, Mundy." Caldo had his back to the two as he sat in his chair. He turned to face them, revealing Caldo to be a worn down dark green toydarrian after years of ixetel abuse from the death sticks. In contrast to his scarred and withered flesh, he wore lavished suiting. After putting his death stick down, he spread his wings and levitated, his wings barely holding him up due to his flesh worn out, even having holes, and he said to Sniper, "You owe me big time, Mundy. I've racked your debt up with interest so now you owe me twenty billion credits. Do you think you can pay me now?"

"We don't have time for this." Mundy said. He wasn't interested in Caldo. "Uchiha."

With that, Sasuke raised his fist. Caldo then gripped his throat, clawing at it as if someone was strangling him. Saskue waved his fist back and forth, using the Force to continually smash Caldo against the walls before sending the now battered and possibly dead toydarrian out the window.

With the crime lord out of the way, Sasuke and Sniper went over to his desk and activated his computer. Luckily, the spreadsheet they were looking for was. It was a list of people that owed Caldo money. Thankfully it was in alphabetical order so finding Sniper's name was easy. They found it and brought his profile up. Though his face was absent, it showed his debt level, showing that Caldo expected not twenty billion credits like the toydarrian said before being executed, but merely two hundred credits. Caldo was a sneaky one indeed. But that wasn't what Sasuke and Sniper were interested in.

There was a portion labeled as "Bounty". Under it was a list of bounty hunters that were sent after Sniper to collect the bounty. There was only one name: Paladins.

"Wait, I know that name." Mundy said as he hit the link. The link brought up the profiles of all the Paladins members, all ranging from different places of the galaxy. Mundy continued, "Yeah, a bunch of do-gooders. Why are they in league with Caldo?"

"I don't think you were their main target." Sasuke said, looking over the profiles. "I'm sensing that Caldo was their primary target. They probably went after you to throw him off."

"But the kouhans? Attacking Lena and Medic? This doesn't add up."

"Well, let's find them and see if we can figure this whole mess out."

Before they left, Sasuke noticed a name that seemed familiar to him.

"Ying. Wasn't that the name Hinata mentioned?"

* * *

 

At the bottom level of the Underworld, a duo of a young redheaded woman with a large bird on her shoulder along with a brawny muscular bald man were looking over the mangled body of Caldo. They were both wonder what killed him, being thrown about or him hitting the ground, several hundred feet below his office window. With the bald man looking up at the young woman, he nodded. She pulled out her comlink and spoke into it.

"Caldo's dead." she said. "My guess is Mundy probably got to him before we could."

"The Uchiha was probably with him." said the man on the other line, the same man who met with Kinessa only a few hours earlier. "Pull out. We'll meet back at Rafa XI."

"Gotcha, Viktor. Cassie out."

"Well, so much for taking care of Caldo on our own." the bald man said. "Guess we're done with the rebellion."

"I wouldn't count on it, Buck." Cassie said. "We did try to kill some of their people trying to get to Caldo. I'm pretty sure that Mundy guy's pretty upset."

"You think they'll come after us?"

"I don't know. I could only imagine what Viktor could plan when they do come after us."

High above Corusant, a small shuttle flew out of the planet atmosphere. Piloting were Kinessa and her team leader, Viktor.

"Now what?" Kinessa asked.

"Well, I can say that they will be hunting us." Viktor said. "We need to lay low for a bit until the heat turns down."

"And if they find us?"

"If, Kinessa. If."

Kinessa was clearly not getting her point across. Viktor was convinced they were safe, but the bounty hunter knew better. It was her who started the doubts in their team to go after Sniper, especially the way they did it. She didn't want to hurt the people she targeted, in fact she admired them since Paladins and the rebellion were practically the same. Both hated the Empire, but couldn't side with the Republic since it was a false hope for the galaxy. But their orders were to get close to Caldo and when the time was right, take him out. To make sure they could trick him, they agreed to the bounty. Kinessa followed them to Gull in hopes of at least missing Sniper with her rifle. Instead, she accidentally shot Lena and Medic. She ran from Genji when he chased her, but when she got back to her ship, she started to scream at herself for hurting the two. Viktor informed her that they were okay, but it didn't make her feel better. Viktor told her that it was the price they had to pay to gain Caldo's trust.

In the end, it all didn't matter. Caldo was killed and they didn't even get to dispense justice to him. She felt like this whole trip was a waste. In her time of turmoil, there was only one person she could turn to. She removered herself from the co-pilot and made her way to the back of the ship.

There was an open cargohold that only held a few boxes for supplies, but there was space for a hooded figure to sit in the center of the hold. Kinessa walked up to the person and sat on the floor and asked, "You okay, kid?"

The hooded person removed the hood, revealing it to be Ying. She looked up at Kinessa and told, "You're the one I'm sensing conflict in. Are you okay?"

"What do you think? I nearly killed two people for nothing."

"And yet they live. You really worry too much, Kinessa." Ying smiled at her friend.

"You seem not to worry enough, kid." Kinessa replied, frustrated. "They'll be coming after us, I just know it."

"And if they do, we'll explain the situation."

"Are you even sure they'll listen?"

"Hinata's with them." Ying told her, looking off in thought. "She didn't change a bit. She was the only one who believed in me when my master didn't."

"She was something else, huh?"

"You kidding? She was so pure and so innocent, I was surprised to see her with a lightsaber."

"You're hoping they'll want us to join them, don't you?"

Yes, Ying wanted to join the rebellion. It wasn't just Hinata, but she could sense the same spirit that her friends have. Both teams wanted nothing more than to protect the galaxy from the Sith and liberate it from the falsehoods of the Republic. She knew that both teams could benefit from each other and if they pulled together, they could win this fight and end the war. But, she could sense the distrust from the people back on Corusant. In the feeling of emotions, she could sense Hinata's disbelief.

* * *

 

"It...It's not possible!" Hinata gasped as she looked at the hologram of Ying's image. "Ying's really still alive?"

"And her team tried to kill me." Sniper added. "As far as I'm concerned, they're the enemy."

"I told you you weren't the target, Mundy." Sasuke told him. "Caldo was the target. Their thoughts betrayed them in this escapade. There is guilt for the attacks."

"Then why do it, hm?" Naruto asked. "They nearly killed Tracer, Medic, Sasuke and us. I'm with Sniper on this. Believe it."

"I agree with Naruto on this." Sakura added. "They attacked us, even if it's to get to Caldo."

"I think we should at least their side of all of this." Amelie told everyone. "I trust Sasuke in this. He hasn't been wrong yet."

"'Yet', being the word, Huntress." Sniper responded. "I don't trust this little group of bounty hunters."

"Ying w-wouldn't join them if they meant any harm." Hinata responded, looking up from the hologram. "S-She was my good friend in the Jedi. She was a pure spirit. I'm with Amelie on this."

"Sorry Hinata, but I have to disagree." Sakura told her. "You haven't seen her in how long? Five years? A lot can happen in five years."

"I-I'm serious. I can feel her now. She wants to help."

"Fine, she wants to help, but what about the rest of her team?" Naruto asked.

Hinata took a moment. She tried to pick up the emotions on the rest of Paladins. She grunted, "It's hard to tell. I'm sensing the Dark Side."

"That's settles it!" Sniper said, slamming his helmet on the table. "Dark Side immediately means Sith. There is only one I trust and he's in the room with me."

"No you don't." Sasuke said, leaning against the wall.

"Look, we're overreaching our bounds here." Amelie said. "I suggest we contact the General and see what she has to say."

Everyone agreed, but they also agreed to do it in the morning. With Caldo dead and the certainty that Paladins were possibly far away from the planet, they thought it would be best to try and get some sleep.


End file.
